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Welcome to the November issue of the Garrett County Gazette. I’m Chris Nichols, your guide to helping you find out what’s going on, what’s coming up and interesting tidbits from the area. Let’s jump right in!
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Local extracurricular activities score big
I say it a lot: “Garrett County punches way above our weight class” It’s true for a variety of things, but notably for our youth extracurricular activities like sports and band. Here’s a roundup of some of these accomplishments:
The Northern Garrett Girls Cross-Country team captured their third consecutive 1A state title on Saturday at Hereford High School. The Northern Garrett Boys’ team also earned the 1A state title, the first time this occurred in school history.
Congratulations to the Southern Garrett Marching Band for winning the 2022 Tournament of Bands 1A Atlantic Coast Championship. The band completed this competition with an impressive score of 95.02. Additionally, the band received the Best Visual, Best Music, and Best Percussion awards.
Maryland Interscholastic Cycling League directors and core staff awarded the Garrett County Coyotes the “Community Award” during a recent event. This award is given to a MICL team that goes above and beyond to help build a better community we live in and within the MICL league.
Go Garrett County!
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Deep Creek Lake Lions Blind Skier 50th Anniversary Gala
The Deep Creek Lions Club is proud to present the Blind Skier 50th Anniversary Gala on Tuesday February 7th, 2023 at the Wisp Resort. Since 1973, the Club has been providing visually impaired youth with the opportunity to learn to downhill ski through this program. Please help support the Club’s many community activities and celebrate by attending or sponsoring the gala celebration. Visit BLINDSKIER50.COM for more information.
How can you help?
This is going to be a night you won’t forget! The event will feature an inspiring presentation by Brian McKeever, a Canadian cross-country skier and biathlete, who is the most decorated Paralympic cross-country skier ever with a career total of 13 gold medals and 17 medals in all. In addition to Brian McKeever’s inspiring presentation, the event will offer a silent auction, a delicious dinner, cash bar, music, fireworks, an awards program, and other special surprise events to commemorate this momentous anniversary.
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Map Sale – 30% off all my maps!
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Celebrating Garrett County History, early Christmas shopping AND small businesses!
30% off ALL my maps through Dec 5, 2022. Use the coupon code GC150
On November 4 1872, the citizens of the western part of Allegany County MD voted to form a new county and on Dec 4, 1872 Garrett County was officially formed! So, for the 30 day period of Nov 4 to Dec 5, I’ll celebrate the founding of the County with 30% off ALL my maps of Garrett County and Deep Creek Lake MD.
Do some early Christmas shopping, celebrate the County’s birthday AND support a local small business!
The BEST maps of Garrett County and Deep Creek Lake here: https://narrowshill.com/
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I have 4 different maps I’ve produced – The Ultimate Wall maps of Garrett County and Deep Creek Lake; Deep Creek: Then and Now; and my fold-up Ultimate Adventure Map.
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History Corner
Well since I brought up my “Deep Creek: Then and Now” map above, I’ll spend a bit of time on one of the interesting spots and my home area – Narrows Hill.
In this detail from the map, I’ve zoomed in on the Narrows Hill area. The map’s background layer is a 1901 topographical map showing the general terrain, roads and structures at that time. Overlaid are today’s roads (in black) and the lake (translucent blue). I don’t really think the roads have moved since then, but over the scale of the whole map, it’s tough to get everything to align completely. 
Narrows Hill generally lies in the area “between the bridges” – that is the Glendale and State Park Bridges – and continues roughly to Toothpick and Beckman’s Peninsula Roads. Before there was a Deep Creek LAKE, there was just Deep CREEK and the Narrows is where Deep Creek carved through the terrain to create a rocky gorge which you can still see on either side of the Glendale Bridge.
You’ve probably already noticed the “STATE DAM” labeled around where today’s Glendale Bridge is. Before the current dam, there was actually a much smaller dam on Deep Creek to create a fish hatchery pond. You can find out more about this dam (and a couple of other actual and proposed ones on Deep Creek) on my website.
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Upcoming Events
Festival of Trees
November 25 & 26, @ Garrett Co Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall: this cheerful, affordable family event has become a tradition for thousands of locals, as well as visitors to the County. Benefiting the Dove Center, Garrett County’s domestic violence and sexual assault services program, the Festival of Trees includes something for everyone.
Christmas in the Village
Dec 2-3 @ Spruce Forest Artisan Village: music, tree lighting, luminaries and all the artisans are open for business. A great way to start the holiday season. More info
A Great Small Town Christmas!
Dec 2, evening @ Downtown Oakland: tree lighting ceremony and the Walking Holiday Light Parade, led by Santa Claus himself and many free and family-friendly activities downtown. More info
The Oakland Express at the B&O Museum
December 10, 5:30 -7:30pm @ B&O Train Station: free event for children ages 4-9! Crafts, snacks, and Santa!
Reservations are required. Please call 301-334-2691 to sign up.
Events in 2023
I’ve also started a curated list of community events for 2023 which you can check out on my website. The event listing is formatted in a handy postcard which I’ll be happy to send to you FOR FREE if you reply back to this email with your mailing address!
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